Governance

Relationships Australia South Australia Board of Directors:

Franco Camatta

President

Franco is a lawyer by profession. He is a director of an Adelaide legal practice that he established over 30 years ago. He practises in the corporate and commercial group and has a particular interest in corporate governance. He advises a number of not-for-profit organisations. His work has included an assignment with the Asian Development Bank as a legal consultant in the Lao PDR advising on issues concerning governance in financial transactions.

Franco has also been extensively involved in legal education having for many years taught in the Practical Legal Training programs in South Australia. He also holds the status of Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at Flinders University where he teaches in corporate and commercial law subjects at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Franco has been a legal member of the Nurses Board of South Australia. He has been involved with Relationships Australia SA since 2000 and is currently a member of the Investment Committee.

Geoff Kay

Treasurer

Geoff is a chartered accountant and is the Principal of GK Business and Taxation Consulting, an accounting firm specialising in taxation and small business consulting.

He has over 25 years experience in professional practice and was a partner of a mid-tier firm until going into business for himself in 2009. He has many years of experience in advising small businesses in many different areas including manufacturing, retail and primary production and importing.

He has been a Board member of Relationships Australia SA since 1998. Geoff is also on the board of an Aged Care Facility and South Australia’s leading Golf Club, Kooyonga.

Harold Bates-Brownsword

Board Member

Before beginning work in community services, Harold worked with a number of multi-national organisations in sales, marketing and human resources.

Since being offered his first position in a community services organisation, Harold has worked in child protection, disability, aged care and not for profit housing organisations until taking up a role in the Business School at Flinders University. He teaches accountancy and works with young people and international students to help them make the transition from secondary school to the University.

Harold’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University, Honours Degree in Psychology from Adelaide University, a Master of Policy and Administration from Flinders Univeristy, Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment and a Bachelor of Accounting from Flinders University.

Marion Eckert

Board Member

Marion brings over 25 years experience in the health care. She has worked in executive and research roles in both the public and private sector, informed health care planning, research and policy through strategic partnership, professional development and effective governance to inform strategy, and achieved $7.5 million in research and grant funding in partnership with lead agencies.

Serving as the General Manager, Support, Research and Policy at Cancer Council SA, Marion was awarded a 2015 Churchill Fellowship for her dedication and passion towards survivorship research at a population level. She recently completed a MPH, 2015, and currently serves as the Chair of the Joanna Briggs Institute Cancer Node. She has completed a Professional Doctorate, Masters of Nursing Science, Graduate Diploma of Cardiac Nursing , Cardiac Care Certificate, Hyperbaric Certificate and awarded the Diploma of Applied Science.

In addition to this study, Marion has also completed training in the areas of clinical practice improvement programs, diploma in training and assessment (TAA) and Certificate IV (TAE) and Executive Leadership Program through University of Melbourne. As the nursing representative for the inaugural Statewide Cardiac Network, she established a statewide model for cardiac education and was the CSC of the Cardiovascular Interventional Unit, Royal Adelaide for over 10 years. Marion was previously an elected member of the NMBSA (2005-2011) and more recently she has been appointed the inaugural position of Professor of Cancer Nursing at UniSA.

Kay Nolte

Board Member

Kay Nolte has worked for more than 30 years in Information Technology, first as a Systems Engineer and technical specialist, and then in various applications development roles, and project management.

Kay has worked for a wide range of multinationals in Asia, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, including technology companies such as IBM, and private sector organisations. In Australia Kay has worked with organisations such as Mayne Nickless, Elders Pastoral, and more recently South Australian Government.

Kay has been the Chief Information Officer for large organisations such as WorkCoverSA (now Return to Work SA), ElectraNet SA and the SA Department of Education.

Kay holds an MBA from the University of Adelaide and is currently working as a consultant with the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion.

Diarmid Lee

Board Memeber

Diarmid is a Director at Leed Consulting, an Adelaide based consultancy specialising in organisational and leadership development. Diarmid founded Leed in 2010 after returning from the UK, where he facilitated senior leadership development and organisational development projects across Europe at the height of the global financial crisis.

Diarmid works with clients as a coach, facilitator, and cultural change consultant, assisting them to optimise business and people performance at both the organisational and individual level.

He holds both a Psychology degree and an LLB Honours degree from the University of Adelaide and was a Senior Associate with Minter Ellison prior to his time in the UK. He was the Chairperson of Time for Kids, prior to its merger with Relationships Australia South Australia, having served on that Board for more than 8 years.

Claire Ralfs

Chief Executive Officer

Claire Ralfs is an experienced professional educator and counsellor in the family services sector. She is currently CEO of Relationships Australia SA and the Australian Institute of Social Relations, the training division of RASA. Together with an established team of researchers, educators and communications personnel, Claire has led the development of several national education resources including AVERT Family Violence, SQUARE (Suicide, Questions And Resources), and Point of Contact children living with family domestic violence.

Claire is innovative and outcomes driven with a demonstrated commitment to human services that strengthen family safety, build cultural respect and use community resources wisely. She is experienced in driving organisational change and building cross disciplinary collaboration. She is consistently able to motivate staff teams to produce service results, contribute to quality education and demonstrate evaluation outcomes.

Claire is acknowledged for designing cutting-edge resources that genuinely build professional skills. She is an experienced facilitator and educator and known for creativity in the design of new services, quality tender writing, evidence-based program logic, and successful service implementation. She has demonstrated skills in strategic planning, financial management and outcomes evaluation to ensure success within a competitive and changing not for profit sector.